


Zero Tolerance

by lizwuzthere



Series: Post-Predacons Rising [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen, Post-Predacons Rising
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-16 04:03:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1331212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizwuzthere/pseuds/lizwuzthere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div class="center">
  <p> </p>
  <p>    <img/><br/></p>
</div>Post-Predacons Rising: It's finally time to start rebuilding Cybertron, and what better time to start healing the deep divisions left in their species by this terrible war? Unfortunately for the Autobots, most of the Vehicons are not especially interested in teaming up with them. Specifically, the one Vehicon who is in charge of organizing all the rest of them.<br/>It's up to Ultra Magnus to find a way to appease this 'Con and get them all working together peacefully... And also quietly investigate whether or not something more sinister is afoot.
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hahahaa what a shitty title :U  
> Anyway, this story is going to be short. Maybe three chapters or so. It focuses on Ultra Magnus and my jackass of a Vehicon OC, AA-00. (pronounced "double A zero")  
> You can read all my Vehicon headcanons over here in this [Handy Dandy Headcanon Post on Vehicon Organization](http://lizwuzthere.tumblr.com/post/37019561808/cut-below-for-long-winded-vehicon-organization)  
> It's not necessary to understand this story, though.

It took a lot of discussion amongst the Autobots to decide what to do with the Vehicons. A lot of ideas were tossed around. Everything from making them Autobots to trying them for war crimes came up. Of course, in the end, the only real _Autobot_ thing for them to do was to talk to the 'Cons. Hopefully, they could be convinced to aid in the rebuilding of New Kaon. (as it had been dubbed.)

Once that decision had been made, Ultra Magnus had firmly insisted that he be the one to address the Vehicons. Being an authority figure with experience in coordinating large groups, he reasoned his skills would be best suited for handling them.

The Vehicons were being held in small groups in the rooms of the Nemesis until they could be spoken to face to face. Since they'd gotten back, Ultra Magnus had been going from group to group trying to convince them to aid the Autobots in the rebuilding effort. Some of them had agreed. Some of them had told him to go eat slag.

It was not a 50-50 split...

That all changed, however, when Magnus came upon a group of silver eradicons. The moment Magnus entered the room, one eradicon stormed up to the Autobot commander, pointed a sharp digit right in his chassis and started screaming into his face!

It was _about time_ that bumbling Autobot commander showed up to talk! And Magnus ought to have known if he wanted to utilize the Vehicons for _any_ purpose, he would have to go through AA-00 first! And anything Magnus did trying to organize the Vehicons on his own was just going to ' _muck everything up!_ '

Magnus had stumbled out of the room in shock. He had barely gotten a word in. That was... unusual.

Once he'd regained himself, Magnus had a word around about this 'Con. _This_ was AA-00, he learned. They were in charge of the Vehicons. And very protective of them too. Also, they used 'they' as a pronoun. Something to do with human pronouns being _stupid_. Anyway, that wasn't important. What was important was they knew the Vehicons and they knew how to coordinate them on a mass scale. And since he had now found someone who was proficient at handling these Decepticons, Ultra Magnus saw fit to relinquish the duty.

It had all worked out very much in their favor, actually. With another Vehicon leading them, the transition to work had gone much smoother than it might have with an Autobot giving the orders. Apparently none of them _dared_ to tell AA-00 to “eat slag.”

And plus, the Vehicons were _efficient_. Within just a decacycle they had a landing dock for future arrivals, a new base of operations, and a barracks built. Scouting patrols were regularly being sent out to scope the landscape and record changes or new threats. The seekers were finding new energon veins and the miners were sent out to dig it up. Engineers were working in the labs. Nurses in the medical bay. Everything seemed to be coming together...

Except... The Autobots themselves were having a hard time of... _participating._

The Vehicons outnumbered the 'Bots almost a thousand to one, so obviously they were going to get more accomplished. Although, it did begin to bother Ultra Magnus that AA-00 was not asking the Autobots for assistance with... well. _Anything._

Soon enough, the Autobots ran out of projects to work on by themselves. They _had_ to start coordinating with the Vehicons to get things done. This would have to be brought up with AA-00. And so Ultra Magnus called a council meeting to discuss it.

He arrived just as their meeting was scheduled to begin and took a seat at the table. Magnus looked around. Arcee, Bulkhead, Smokescreen, Bumblebee, Knockout... Ah, and Wheeljack had just arrived. Now they were just waiting on AA-00.

After a few minutes had passed, Arcee finally spoke up. “Maybe someone should go find them?” she offered with a short shrug.

“Don't bother; they're _always_ late.” Knockout grumbled, picking at his claws. “They'll be here soon enough.”

Magnus let out a frustrated huff of air. Knockout wasn't interested in this meeting, obviously. He had four Vehicon nurses working with him in the medbay already. AA-00's exclusion seemed to be entirely motivated by faction. Which was only one more reason why it disturbed Ultra Magnus so much.

A minute or so later, the door slid open and AA-00 hurried in, their helm lowered as they typed fervently on their datapad.

“What kept you, soldier?” Magnus spoke up immediately. Tardiness was probably Ultra Magnus' biggest pet peeve. Anyone else and he might have been writing them up for disciplinary action... but no. This needed to be handled gently.

“I'm not a soldier.” AA-00 said quickly as they took their seat, still not taking their optics off the datapad. “And I'm _incredibly_ busy here, so let's make this quick.”

“What's that you're busy with?” Smokescreen had his pedes up on the table and was leaning back in his seat. Ultra Magnus bent sideways a bit and with a quick swipe of his arm, Smokescreen's legs were swept off the table. He would have to give the 'Bot a formal reprimanding later for interrupting the formal nature of the meeting.

AA-00 didn't even look up. “Does it matter?” they continued pressing away at the pad.

“As a matter of fact, it does.” Ultra Magnus said. He interlaced his fingers, leaning over the table just slightly, trying to look as stern as possible without being threatening. The not threatening part was important. “This meeting is because of _you_ , AA-00.”

AA-00 finally stopped and looked up. “Because of _me_?” they repeated, obviously displeased. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Before Ultra Magnus could assure AA-00 that he had not meant to be confrontational, Bumblebee shouted, “You're hogging all the work!” Bee threw his arms up in an angry gesture. “Seriously! You're organizing everything so we're not even working with the Vehicons. How are we supposed to get anything done?”

“I'd say there's _a lot_ getting done just fine!” AA-00 retorted, pointing a sharp digit at the scout. “A lot more than if you numb nodes were in charge of my Vehicons.”

“We are here to settle this _amicably._ ” Ultra Magnus said firmly, shooting a glare at Bumblebee. The scout shrugged and turned his optics away. Magnus looked back to AA-00. “And we do not intend to take charge of the Vehicons away from you. We only think the Autobots need to be assigned to the appropriate teams and eventually, help to manage them. It would certainly lessen the amount of work that you-”

“I can do my job just fine, thank you.” AA-00 interrupted Magnus. “I don't need any extra help.”

“Well _we_ could sure use some extra help.” Wheeljack grumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chassis. “I've got projects I need a team to work on. And I knowyou've got engineers in your ranks.”

“Plus, Bumblebee and I can't keep going on scouting missions by ourselves.” Arcee added, “It can be dangerous to go with just two of us. We could use the support of one or more of the Vehicon squads.”

“And I could help with construction.” Bulkhead raised a servo meekly. “I mean, I've got the experience and rebuilding the city is a pretty huge project...”

“Yeah! And I...” Smokescreen began, then hesitated. “Uhh... could... do _something_ I'm sure. Y'know. Leadership-ish...?”

“Yeah, see? We all just want to help!” Bumblebee spoke up again. “Come on, Zero. I don't see why you won't let us work with the Vehicons.”

AA-00's wings gave an irritated twitch. “First of all, if you call me _Zero_ again I'll leap across this table and punch you in the face!” This earned a small chuckle from Knockout, which in turn, earned him an elbow in the side from Bee. “And second...” AA-00 continued but then paused. After a short glance around at the Autobots they stuttered, “I'm not about to... I think... This... th-this conversation is _over_.” Suddenly AA-00 stood and headed for the door. “I'm way to busy for this scrap, anyway!”

“AA-00! This meeting is not-” Before Ultra Magnus could finish his sentence the door slid shut behind the Vehicon and they were gone.

“Well that went well.” Wheeljack grumbled, leaning back in his chair.

Knockout stood and headed for the door as well. “If you're all finished, I'll be headed back to the medical bay now. Unlike the rest of you, I _do_ have a team to manage.” The hint of arrogance in his tone was frustrating, but Ultra Magnus said nothing as the medic left the room. Now was not the time. The Autobots all stayed behind, waiting to see if anyone else had something to say.

“What are we going to do?” Arcee finally spoke up, looking directly at Ultra Magnus. “This is a really critical period. It's supposed to be about healing and coming together! We can't just let AA-00 keep us separated from the Decepticons like this. It could start up another conflict.”

“Huh. Yeah, when you put it like that...” Bulkhead rumbled, scratching his helm. “I mean, Cybertron's had _enough_ conflict, I think. ”

“We can all agree on that.” Magnus sighed, pressing his digits to the side of his helm. He shuddered his optics for a moment to think. “The only reasonable course of action is to continue trying to persuade AA-00 peacefully.”

“You guys don't really think this could come to like... real battles or something , do you?” Smokescreen said, “I mean, the Vehicons pretty much do what AA-00 tells 'em. And they wouldn't have the 'Cons do something like that... _would_ they?”

“The sway AA-00 holds over the Vehicons is precisely what has me worried.” Magnus said, “The Vehiconsoutnumber us greatly, so we must find a way to desegregate the factions while ensuring that AA-00 does not feel threatened. Otherwise, such a conflict _could_ very well arise.”

A quick glance around the table showed that his words had the appropriate impact. The other Autobots were taking this seriously. Just as they should.

“I will attempt to speak to AA-00 again later.” Magnus stood as he continued. “Hopefully, at a time when they are not working so they cannot use that as an excuse to hurry off. If I am unsuccessful then... well, we will have to start thinking of alternative methods of action... Meeting adjourned.”

The Autobots grumbled quietly in acknowledgement then slowly got up and headed out. To where didn't really matter. They didn't have much to do.

Once the other 'Bots had cleared out, Ultra Magnus followed suit and headed towards his office. On his way there he passed two Vehicons in the hall. As they spotted him, they quickly cut off their conversation and shrank back against the wall until he passed, all the while keeping their optics trained fiercely on him.

It seemed awfully suspicious to Magnus; especially since a potential conflict was at the forefront of his processor. He had to speak with AA-00 as soon as possible! The faster the Vehicons could integrate with the Autobots the more likely they would have a _peaceful_ future together... at least assuming that was what AA-00 wanted...

Anyway, the first step was to find out when AA-00 would be off duty. Fortunately, they kept up a schedule, and one of the few conditions Magnus had in relinquishing his duty over the Vehicons was that he received a copy of that schedule every few cycles. He had wanted to know when and where to find the mech at all times. Thank Primus he had thought ahead.

Magnus entered his office and approached his desk. All his datapads were arranged on the shelf behind the desk, neatly and in order with their labels facing out, so he quickly found an empty one. Reaching into one of the desk drawers, Magnus pulled out the small datastick AA-00 had given to him with their most recent schedule on it. He plugged it into the datapad and it quickly loaded the file. What he found was somewhat surprising.

He had checked over AA-00's schedules before, but now that he was searching specifically for it, he noticed that the mech never seemed to take a break. Every meeting, every check-up was scheduled right up to the next. Every single moment, it seemed, was occupied.

Finally, Ultra Magnus spotted it. There was a three and a half sub-cycle time period labeled “recharge” later that cycle.

Hmm. Only three and a half sub-cycles? That was hardly a proper amount to fully recharge oneself. Well, regardless of AA-00's unhealthy recharge habits, that was when Magnus would have to speak with them again.

Putting away the datapad, Ultra Magnus commenced with a few practice conversations... this was a delicate matter, after all. He had to be as prepared as he possibly could be. In fact, best to get out some reference material to go over. There certainly had to be something about this kind of diplomatic situation in the Autobot code. Or maybe even the Tyrest Accord. Yes, he would just have to go though both of them again to see if it helped...


	2. Chapter 2

Ultra Magnus had arrived outside AA-00's quarters precisely when they were scheduled for their break. He then proceeded to stand there for almost half a sub-cycle, alone in the hallway, as he waited for AA-00 to actually show up.

Magnus looked down at the datapad in his servos, going over some notes he'd made for himself. The Vehicon had only scheduled three and a half sub-cycles for recharging in the first place, and now it was down to only three. It was bad enough that they didn't show up on time for meetings, but they couldn't even manage to be punctual for their own time off? Magnus fervently scanned the short lines of text on his screen, trying to push out any ideas in his processor about chastising AA-00 for their unhealthy work habits... As much as he wanted to, he knew it really would not help the situation at hand.

As he continued looking over his datapad, he finally heard someone approaching. Magnus looked up just in time to see a lone Vehicon come around the corner towards him. It wasn't AA-00. No, judging by the frame type, this appeared to be one of the servant class Vehicons. Probably a miner. And once she spotted Ultra Magnus up ahead she stopped dead in her tracks.

After a moment of them just staring at each other, Magnus finally spoke up. “Are you here to see AA-00 as well?”

At hearing his voice, the miner's optical visor flared slightly and they almost seemed to flinch. “No I... I was just.... I mean y-yes. Yes I was b-but uh...” she stammered, pulling her optics away from the Autobot and locking them firmly on the floor. “I... I'll just see them later.”

Suspicious.

The Vehicon quickly turned to go back they way she came, but Ultra Magnus' voice stopped her. “What is your designation?” he called out.

Looking back, she seemed to hesitate before finally replying, “I'm PA-01.”

Magnus noticed the hesitation. “What is it you intended to speak with AA-00 about, PA-01?” he asked.

“Th...there's um... There's just... It's mining stuff. I don't know...” She was shifting her weight anxiously, and her vision wandered along the rivets in the floor around Magnus' pedes as she desperately avoided meeting his gaze. Which meant she didn't notice when Ultra Magnus narrowed his optics.

Even more suspicious.

“You don't know?” He repeated, his vocalizer took on a darker tone.

PA-01 immediately stopped shifting around and froze. “I... I...” she stammered quietly. Finally, after ventilating heavily for a moment, she looked up into Ultra Magnus' face. “ _I-just-wanted-to-ask-AA-00-about-the-extra-mining-equipment-my-units-were-promised-and-haven't-gotten-yet-but-they-aren't-here-and-they-told-us-not-to-talk-to-you-Autobots-so-I'm-just-gonna-go-okay-bye!_ ” She spoke so fast Magnus almost didn't understand her, but before he had time to ask any more questions, she turned and bolted back around the corner like her spark depended on it. Which left Magnus alone to ponder over the encounter.

He was particularly troubled by the very last thing she had mentioned. AA-00 instructed the Vehicons to not even speak to the Autobots? Why was that? Was it possible they _were_ planning something? AA-00 was in charge of so many operations; could one or more of them be utilized to scheme against the Autobots? What if “mining equipment” was some sort of code word? What if they were gearing up to destroy the Autobots once and for all and claim Cybertron in the name of the Decepticons?!

Just as Magnus' processor was really starting to delve into all the possible ways that the Vehicons could be plotting the demise of the Autobots, he heard a few voices approaching from the other direction. He looked back around and saw AA-00 and three other Vehicons round the far corner of the hall and head towards him. AA-00 was focused down on their datapad, as usual, and the three Vehicons appeared to all be vying for their attention and speaking over one another.

Finally, one of the the Vehicons looked up and spotted Magnus. He froze in his place, stopping the one behind him as well, catching the attention of the third who looked up, saw Magnus, and froze as well.

For a moment, AA-00 continued forward without the three. But apparently, the sudden silence caught their attention better than their combined voices could, and they looked back around at the Vehicons. Seeing they'd stopped, AA-00 followed their stares down the hall and finally laid optics on Magnus, standing just across from the door to their quarters.

There was a noticeable twitch of sorts in AA-00's wings; whether it was from being startled or irritated Magnus couldn't tell. They only looked at Magnus for a moment, then quickly turned back to the Vehicons and motioned for them to leave.

One of them, another silver eradicon glanced quickly back and forth between AA-00 and Magnus before leaning in and saying something Magnus couldn't quite make out. However, he did hear AA-00 respond with, “I'll be fine. Just _go._ ”

After hesitating for another moment, the Eradicon, along with the other two Vehicons, turned and hurried back down the hallway. AA-00 only turned to face Magnus after they had rounded the corner and were out of sight.

“Ultra Magnus.” AA-00 stated his name as they approached, stopping just out of reach of the enforcer. “Is there some reason you're standing outside my quarters or is this just a coincidence?”

Magnus straightened his posture as much as he could, trying to look formal. This was to be a friendly conversation. He would be as diplomatic as possible.

“I wanted to speak with you again about matters concerning the Autobots working with the Vehicons.” he recited it just as he'd practiced. “I believe you are making a mistake by not including us in the organization of-”

“I think I made my opinion on that quite clear earlier.” AA-00 interrupted him and turned away, moving towards the keypad next to their door. “Not that I expect you 'Bots to care about _my_ opinion...” they grumbled quietly as they pressed in their passcode.

“AA-00 you _must_ reconsider.” Careful not to sound too demanding. “Perhaps if you were to give the Autobots _small_ Vehicon teams as a sort of trial period. We would be able to-” Ultra Magnus stopped short as AA-00's door slid open to reveal their quarters. Ugh. He couldn't help but wince as he looked into the room.

Amidst what Ultra Magnus assumed was a desk and a berth, there were stacks upon stacks of boxes; some still tightly sealed, some opened with the contents strewn out around them. Stray datasticks and binders obscured most of the desk with no discernible organization. Innumerable datapads were piled up all around the room and many more were simply littered across the floor. Worst of all, there appeared to be one chosen corner dedicated to empty energon containers. Stacks of cubes (mostly empty, but some still with a bit left) and their broken bits climbed high up the wall in a treacherous tower that, at any moment, looked as though it might collapse and engulf the small room in a torrent of plastic and energon dregs.

AA-00 glanced back when Ultra Magnus cut himself off and caught him staring into the mess of their room. “Don't look at me like that. I _know_ it's a disaster.” they huffed, stepping inside. “All of my files were moved from my quarters on the Nemesis and there's not really enough room.”

“You... might be better off throwing all of that out.” it was all he could think to say.

“I can't just _throw out_ my files!” AA-00 actually sounded offended at the suggestion. “Documentation is _important_ , you know. Even if it is disorganized... It's not as though I have any spare time to unpack or clean!”

Part of Magnus recognized this as an excellent way to jump back into the conversation, but another part of him wasn't quite done with staring on in horror at the clutter of AA-00's living space. How could they even stand to be in this mess? It was appalling!

“Now if you'll excuse me. I only have so long before I have to get back to work, so...” AA-00 was reaching up to the keypad to close their door again.

Oh no!

“Wait!” Magnus thrust his hand forward as the door started sliding shut. The panels quickly jumped back to prevent closing on him, and he stepped forward into the doorway. “AA-00, please allow me to-”

“What do you think you're doing?!” AA-00 cut him off. “Get out!”

“You must at least listen to me!” Ultra Magnus was beginning to get frustrated with the Vehicon's attitude.

“No, I really mustn't.” Their wings fluttered angrily and they pressed their servo on the keypad. “And if you have even the slightest shred of respect for me or what I do then you'll _stop questioning how I do it!_ ”

“This is not about you, AA-00. It's about all of us. About _Cybertron._ ” he said, trying to regain the calm tone he'd started out with. It wasn't easy. “We have the opportunity to come together and work on restoring our planet, not as separate factions, but as fellow Cybertronians.”

AA-00's wings lowered slightly as Magnus spoke but they said nothing. At least it was _some_ sort of response... and the gesture appeared to be one of understanding. Magnus continued. “I realize it will be difficult to integrate our two factions, but doing so is crucial to maintaining the peace and ensuring the future of our planet.”

The Vehicon lowered their gaze to the keypad, letting out a quiet murmur that sounded like some sort of acknowledgement. Good. That was progress... but Ultra Magnus still had that tiny suspicion in the back of his processor. The suspicion that perhaps these Vehicons were not as interested in maintaining the peace as the Autobots were... Perhaps he could put that to the test right now.

Keeping a close watch on AA-00 to gage their reaction, Magnus continued, “I'm glad you agree. Because if we don't settle this, it is possible another conflict could arise between us. And you don't want that. Do you?”

“ _WHAT?!_ ” AA-00's response was immediate. Their wings shot up, their whole frame stiffening and their optics flashing brightly.

Magnus suddenly found himself being shoved out into the corridor by the smaller 'Con and stumbling back into the opposite wall. He had certainly been expecting some sort of reaction but he hadn't expected _this_! He wasn't sure what to make of it. Did this violent reaction mean he was on to something? That AA-00 was planning to overthrow the Autobots? As he regained his bearings, AA-00 was on him again, pressing a sharp digit right into his chassis.

“Don't think you can threaten me like that, Magnus!” they spat out his name like an insult. “and don't you DARE threaten _my_ Vehicons! I won't stand for it!!”

A _threat?_ Oh no. AA-00 had taken it completely the wrong way! Magnus lifted his servos, trying to make a calming sort of gesture, but AA-00 jumped back as he did. “No! No, that wasn't a threat, I only meant-”

“Oh I understand _exactly_ what you meant, and I'm through listening to you.” AA-00 turned, storming back into their room.

“Please let me explain! I didn't mean that we Autobots would take action against you, just that-”

“Of _course_ , because the Autobots would _never_ hurt a Vehicon.” AA-00's vocalizer was dripping with sarcasm as they looked back from their doorway. “You know what the worst part is? I think you _actually_ believe that.”

It took a moment for Magnus to really comprehend what AA-00 was saying. “Th... The Autobots don't wish harm on _anyone._ That includes you Vehicons!” he insisted.

“Right. Well, when I believe that, you can have all the Vehicon workers you like.” AA-00 placed their servo on the keypad again. “But until then, I'm going to protect my Vehicons. And that means keeping them far away from _you._ ” With that their door slid shut.

Ultra Magnus stood there in the hallway for awhile, just feeling rather dumbfounded. It was surprising how many conversations with AA-00 ended with him in this state of bewilderment. Finally, he turned and headed off down the hallway, his processor still in a cloud of confusion.

What in the world made AA-00 think the Autobots were dangerous? They were _Autobots,_ after all. If there were to be a new conflict, then obviously it would be the Decepticons who would initiate it! He had thought that point would have been obvious, even to AA-00... apparently not. And he thought they had done so well being amicable towards the Decepticons since the rebuilding effort began. What could have made AA-00 think they wanted to hurt the Vehicons?

Although that hadn't gone the way he had hoped, or even prepared for, at least he had discovered a motive behind AA-00's exclusion: they didn't trust the Autobots to be around the Vehicons. Now he just needed to convince them that... that what? They weren't going to go on mass-murdering sprees when they were assigned teams to work with? How did that need to be proved? The very notion was ridiculous!

Reaching a junction in the hallway, Magnus paused for a moment to consider where he was going. Then he turned and headed towards the medical bay. Apparently AA-00 trusted their medic enough to assign him his own Vehicons, despite him technically switching sides... Perhaps he could persuade his Vehicons to offer some insight into their leader's perspective. He just hoped Knockout was in a sharing mood.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't even spell check this, I'm just throwin' it out there! :U I'll come back and check stuff later, though.  
> Enjoy anyway~
> 
> Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated!

As Ultra Magnus entered the medical bay, he thought his first objective should be to speak to Knockout. However, he didn't see the doctor anywhere in the main chamber. His four Vehicon assistants were all accounted for, though. Each of them was occupied with a task; one was seeing to an injured miner, one sorting through some cabinets, one cleaning some tools, and the last of them had their helm buried deep in a stack of datapads.

When Magnus actually stepped into the room, the Vehicon sorting the cabinets, who was closest, saw him first. He was so startled he dropped the vial of pink liquid in his servos and it clattered off the shelf and smashed on the ground.

The others all looked up at the crash and Ultra Magnus suddenly found five Vehicons all staring at him, frozen in place. The one who had dropped the vial finally started moving again after a moment. He began grumbling quiet apologies and moved to bend over and clean, but he paused again and glanced back up at Magnus. The Autobot was standing just a few paces away, and the Vehicon was visibly hesitating in taking his optics off him. Finally, he excused himself and rushed off to the back of the room and started fussing with some cloths and solvents there, leaving the shattered glass a mess on the floor.

As he hurried away, the Vehicon with the datapads stepped forward and took his place. “Is there something I can help you with... er, um... _Autobot?_ ”

“Ultra Magnus.” he offered. It wasn't surprising they didn't know his name, but their reaction to him without even knowing who he was did a little bit. And now that he knew AA-00 feared for the Vehicons' safety around the Autobots, he was even more aware as they squirmed nervously as they watched him.

“Ah. Right...” The Vehicon tensed up a bit, his servos interlaced tightly in front of him. “What... what do you need? Something broken?”

“No, I'm not here for a medical issue. I had hoped to speak with Knockout. Is he here?”

“Oh! Yes, yes he is!” His vocalizer was drenched in relief. The Vehicon hurried over to a door on the right side of the room. “He's in his office.” Magnus couldn't help but feel a bit insulted by his eagerness to get rid of him, but he said nothing and followed.

The Vehicon pressed a button on the keypad next to the door and spoke into the intercom, “Doctor, there's-”

“ _I told you not to disturb me unless someone is_ dying!”

He hesitated again, glancing back at Magnus. “Y-yes, I know... but one of the Autobots is here to see you... Ultra Magnus.”

There was a long pause after this, until finally the door slid open. “Magnus.” Knockout stepped into the doorway. His tone was friendly and light, but he had an _obviously_ insincere smile on his face. “What can I do for you?”

“I was hoping to speak with you...” he glanced at the Vehicon standing nearby and looking rather uncomfortable. “perhaps in private.”

Knockout paused, his smile faltered slightly. “...Can it wait?” he grumbled.

“It's of the utmost importance.”

Glancing back into his office, Knockout let out an irritated vent. Then he shot a glare towards the Vehicon who quickly took the hint and scurried off back to work. Once he had, the medic turned and stepped back into his office. As Magnus followed, closing the door behind him, Knockout went about gathering some of the objects on his desk. Before Magnus could get a good look at them, they were shuffled into a drawer and out of sight.

“So.” Knockout sat, folding his servos neatly in front of him on the desk. “What can I do for you?”

Magnus remained standing on the other side, looking down at Knockout. "It's concerning AA-00 and the Vehicons."

"Oh THIS again?" Knockout leaned back in his chair, relaxing a bit more. "I don't think this is of the _utmost importance_. Besides, you're not going to change Zero's mind."

"I want to know why they assigned you a team and no one else." Ultra Magnus stiffened his posture, clasping his servos behind him. "If you or your team could offer some insight, then-"

Knockout held up a servo to stop him, "Listen Mags, I'm not-"

"Ultra Magnus. Not _Mags._ "

Knockout's smile returned, although this time it was more mischievous than forced. "Yes. _Ultra Magnus_ ... I don't know _why_ Zero gave me a team, and honestly, you can't expect me to explain the actions of a _Vehicon_..." The medic said the word Vehicon with a certain derision that did not escape Magnus' notice, and neither did his continued use of the nickname the Vehicon leader seemed to despise. Perhaps this assignment was a way to punish Knockout with untrained help? It would certainly explain the doctor's reluctance to work with them.

"Has your team not been performing up to your standards?"

Knockout raised one optical ridge, "Why do you ask that?"

"You didn't seem pleased with them." Magnus glanced back at the closed door, "although they appeared to me to be fulfilling all their duties as your assistants."

"Hmm.. Yes, well they get the job done, I suppose..." Knockouts optics flickered down to the drawer and added quietly, "I've certainly had better..." Then he quickly folded his arms across his chassis and leaned back further. "Anyway, that's hardly relevant. If you actually want to know about Zero's motives, you're asking the wrong person."

Knockout stood, circling around the desk and approaching the door. Pressing the command for it to open, he stepped into the doorway. “WY-01! Come in here, won't you?” The medic didn't wait at the door, he swiveled around and moved back to his desk, leaning on it casually as the Vehicon approached.

It was the same Vehicon who had greeted Magnus. “Yes, doctor...?” he asked, standing just outside the door.

“Now now, don't be shy.” Knockout smirked, “Come on in. And shut the door, would you?”

WY-01 hesitated for a moment, then stepped through the door, pressing the keypad to close it. He tried to keep his gaze on Knockout, but he kept shooting nervous glances over at Ultra Magnus. The Autobot kept his servos behind his back, trying not to look too intimidating. He was starting to feel bad about frightening these Vehicons.

Knockout didn't seem to have such reservations. He gestured towards the enforcer, “Ultra Magnus here has a few questions for you.” he said, smiling devilishly. “Do try to answer him honestly; we wouldn't want you to get in trouble, would-?”

“ _Thank you_ , doctor. I'll take it from here.” Magnus interrupted, glaring at the medic. Scaring the Vehicons was _not_ going to help make the case that the Autobots wanted peace. He looked back to WY-01, trying to soften his expression. “You are not in trouble, I can assure you. I only want to inquire about AA-00.”

WY-01 shifted anxiously, leaning towards the door slightly and keeping their gaze fixed firmly on Magnus. “Oh... Wh-what about them?”

Ultra Magnus gestured towards Knockout. “Knockout has been the only non-Vehicon to be given assistance by AA-00 in his duties... the Autobots have not been given teams or even approached to work with the Vehicons in any manner.” he tilted his helm curiously, “Can you offer some insight as to why that is?”

“Uh... well, I...” WY-01 glanced back and forth between Knockout and Magnus a few times, then lowered his gaze. “Well, I don't know about the Autobots or anything... but we aren't really assigned _to_ Knockout. We're assigned to the medical bay.”

This seemed to pique Knockout's interest as well. From the expression on his face, this was apparently news to him too. WY-01 continued. “I mean, we do what he says and everything since he's got more training than us, but he doesn't report back to AA-00 about our status. _I_ do. I'm technically in charge of the other four Vehicons in my squad... Not Knockout.”

“Ah...” Ultra Magnus nodded his helm slowly, “But if you don't report to Knockout, then why assign you to the medical bay with him?”

“Well because...” WY-01 paused, glancing over at the doctor. “because there's a lot of Vehicons coming and going from the med bay and... AA-00 doesn't really... _trust_ Knockout...”

“Oh really?” Magnus glanced over at the medic. He did _not_ look pleased, but that was to be expected. A mech like Knockout didn't take well to getting his ego bruised. Hopefully he wouldn't take it out on squad WY later... but Magnus kept pressing. “Why is it they don't trust the doctor? He was a Decepticon like all of you, after all.”

WY-01 shrugged his shoulder plating slightly. “Yeah well... to be honest, AA-00 never trusted the Decepticon leadership either. They didn't treat the Vehicons especially well... except for-” he cut himself off, glancing at Knockout. The medic was positively fuming by now. “...s- _some_ officers. There were a few nice ones... But... Knockout _wasn't_ one of them. And AA-00 won't assign us to someone that won't treat us well.”

“I see... Do you think there is any way we can let them know the Vehicons will not be mistreated by the Autobots?”

WY-01 didn't say anything for a long moment, then finally shook his helm. “Uh... With all due respect, sir... _I_ don't exactly know that you won't either.”

Ultra Magnus couldn't say he didn't expect the Vehicon to feel this way, especially considering his nervous behavior... that didn't lessen the sting of hearing it said out loud. And so frankly too! “Is there... What... Why exactly... do you feel this way?” Magnus stumbled over his words a bit, trying to phrase his question diplomatically. “We are supposed to be at peace now. And none of the Autobots have been cruel or violent towards any of the Vehicons since we returned to Cybertron.”

“Yeah but it's not...!” WY-01 started loudly, then shrank back as he realized his tone. “It's not all about right _now_ , okay?” he continued in a softer voice. “I mean, back on Earth... We had almost six thousand Vehicons just over a year ago... now we've got just under five thousand. And there's only _six_ of you. I could point to one Autobot and any Vehicon could list off at least _one_ friend that got scrapped by 'em this past year... That's not something that just goes away because you _said_ you're gonna play nice.”

One _thousand_ Vehicons?! The number startled Magnus... had it really been that many? Certainly the number would be high, but... well, he hadn't actually thought exactly how high it must have been until now. WY-01 wasn't finished yet, though.

“And frankly, sir, you aren't really convincing me that you care about the Vehicons, right now.” he continued, “I mean, you just _assumed_ that Knockout was in charge of us. Why? Because he's _not_ a Vehicon? We're not _slaves._ We don't need someone to order us around! We've been treated like _disposables_ for a long fraggin' time, and until you can prove you _don't_ think of us that way, you're not going to change anyone's mind. Especially not AA-00's.” He paused, staring up at Magnus, then promptly turned his gaze to the floor and shrugged his shoulder plating. “S-sorry... but, that's just... I'm just being honest.”

It was quiet for a long minute in the office. Ultra Magnus was still processing everything WY-01 had said. He hadn't realized the extent of this division for some reason. Perhaps he was in the wrong mindset. Perhaps he _had_ been thinking of the Vehicons as _disposables_ rather than actual Cybertronians. Come to think of it, how many Vehicons had _he_ offlined in his short time on Earth? He had no idea. Would he have remembered them all if they _hadn't_ been Vehicons? Would he have even been so quick to kill them if they weren't? But, to be a bit more fair, they _did_ all look incredibly similar. That he, and probably the other Autobots, had grouped all those kills together in a seemingly indiscernible blur was understandable, wasn't it?

Well actually, apparently not. Not to the other Vehicons. And _not_ to AA-00.

As Magnus pondered on this, Knockout finally spoke up.

“Hang on a second...” he said, raising a single digit pointedly. “Earlier, you said the other _four_ Vehicons in your squad... but there's only three others out there.”

“Oh... uh, yeah.” WY-01 grumbled, “I'm not actually sure where WY-05 is. He never reported in...”

“That's _completely_ unacceptable.” Knockout practically hissed. “Even if you aren't under my authority, the medical bay is _my_ domain, and I expect all its personnel to be accounted for!”

“Uh... yes, I suppose... I mean, I could try to-”

“Don't bother.” Knockout interrupted, circling back around his desk. “This Vehicon is going to hear from me personally about this.”

Ultra Magnus let out a quiet vent as he watched Knockout start sorting through his desk again. Well, at least Knockout intended to channel his anger towards someone who wasn't even in the med bay, let alone under his authority. He could deal with that impending disaster some other time. He was still trying to deal with AA-00; he didn't have time for Knockout's dramatics.

Looking to the Vehicon again, he nodded. “Thank you, WY-01.” he said. “Your honesty has been incredibly helpful.”

WY-01 just shrugged their shoulder plating again in response, and Magnus took that as his cue to go. He stepped towards the door and pressed the keypad to leave. As the door slid open, though, the three other members of squad WY all toppled through the doorway!

One of them quickly pulled herself up on the doorframe, staring anxiously up at the Autobot towering over her. “Ah! S-sorry, we were... we weren't eavesdropping, I swear! We just... uh...”

“It's quite alright.” Ultra Magnus said, then gestured for her to move. “But if you'll excuse me, I'm in a bit of a hurry.”

The Vehicons scrambled to get out of the way, and Magnus hurried past them and out of the medical bay. He might have stuck around to try and reassure them, but right then he had to see the other Autobots about these new revelations. They had to find some way to prove that they respected the Vehicons...

But Magnus had no idea how to go about doing that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It takes me so long to update fics nowadays, I figured I'd cut off what was going to be a very long final chapter into two bits so you could get this now. Enjoy~

After leaving the med bay, Ultra Magnus sent a message through his comm to all of the Autobots informing them of what was to be a private meeting in Wheeljack's workshop. It was the only place large enough to accommodate all of them where there was no chance of any Vehicons stumbling upon them. He might have called them to the conference room where they held council, but he didn't intend to invite AA-00 or Knockout, so he decided to keep it informal. The last thing they needed was for AA-00 to hear there was a council meeting they hadn't been invited to.

Once the other Autobots were all there and Smokescreen had been properly scolded for trying to toy with one of Wheeljack's inventions, Ultra Magnus explained about the encounter he'd had with both AA-00 and WY-01 and the information he'd gathered from them. Once he had finished speaking, he looked around to survey their faces. Mostly they appeared mildly shocked, just as Magnus had been, but he noticed Arcee looked somewhat offended.

“Okay, hang on,” she said, raising a single digit pointedly. “Are you telling me that AA-00 thinks we're going to kill the Vehicons they assign to us? That's _ridiculous_!”

“Perhaps it's not as extreme as that.” Magnus offered, “WY-01 said that AA-00 would not assign Vehicons to anyone they thought would treat the troops badly. Perhaps they only think we would... misuse our power.”

“Oh right, we're not going to _murder_ the 'Cons, we're just going to abuse them.” Arcee made a show of throwing her servos into the air in exasperation. “I can't believe we have to _prove_ that we're not psychotic killers!”

“I dunno... I kinda see where they're coming from.”

Every optic in the room flew over to Smokescreen who was leaning up against one of Wheeljack's workbenches. He shrank back a bit from all the stares, but then just shrugged his shoulder plating and continued, “I don't mean that we _are_ , obviously. I just mean I get why AA-00's so touchy about it.” Smokescreen turned his gaze down to his pedes as he gave a light kick at the air. “Besides, the Vehicons must've had it bad under Megatron. I see why they'd wanna stay in charge to keep 'em all safe.”

“But we're not like Megatron!” Bulkhead spoke up, “Not even close!! We'd treat the Vehicons right. And we _have_ , so far. Haven't we?”

“That was another thing that concerned me.” Ultra Magnus said, “When I asked WY-01 about this, it was his opinion that we have _not_.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Wheeljack was fiddling with a laser welder as he spoke, the annoyance clear in his tone. “We've definitely been nice to 'em! It's not like we've got 'em locked up or anything...” he paused to consider, then added, “Well, I mean not anymore...”

Before the other Autobots could add to the protestations, Magnus raised a servo to quiet them all. “Please, we must not dismiss or try to justify the concerns these Vehicons have.” he said firmly, “It's been made clear to me today that their impression of us is vastly different than what we thought it was. It appears they believe we look on them as less important than ourselves.”

“Probably because they've always been treated as less important.” Smokescreen spoke up again. “Remember when I jumped off their ship with the Omega Keys? Well I think Megatron threw one of the grounders after me by accident. _Way_ up in the air like that and he threw a ground Vehicon after me! Didn't seem like he even cared about it either... Just let the poor fragger fall...”

Silence descended on the room again. After that revelation it seemed no one had anything else to add. After what felt like ages, Smokescreen finally broke the silence.

“Did you guys know they're wearing masks?” This was met with a few raised optical ridges and tilted helms, but Smokescreen nodded and continued, “Yeah. I saw a few of 'em with energon cubes earlier so they'd taken 'em off to drink 'em. They had _faces_ underneath. Two optics and a mouth.” he shrugged, “I didn't get a really good look, though. When they saw me they ran off.”

“Hmm. I guess we don't really know much about the Vehicons, do we?” Bulkhead said.

“And _they_ know very little about us.” Ultra Magnus added, “The only interaction we've had before coming back to Cybertron was in battle. From their perspective, it doesn't seem farfetched for one of us to cause them harm.”

There was another minute of silence as each of the Autobots thought about this.

“I suppose we did... kind of kill _a lot_ of Vehicons back on Earth.” Arcee finally admitted.

Ultra Magnus nodded in agreement, recalling what WY-01 had said to him. A _thousand_ Vehicons... The number was still staggering.

“Our task now is to find a way to convince AA-00, and in fact, _all_ of the Vehicons that we mean them no harm.” He said.

“How are we supposed to do that? They won't even come near us.” Bulkhead groaned.

“There has got to be some way we can show them that the Autobots aren't going to use excessive violence. If we could just make them understand what makes us different from the 'Cons. Like... show them how we operate...?” Arcee glanced around at the other Autobots, unable to think of any specific ways to go about this.

It took another minute after she said this for Ultra Magnus to realize: he had the exact means to do that right in his subspace! He quickly reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out the datapad he'd used for his notes. Of course, the notes weren't the only thing he had stored on it.

“This is how we will convince AA-00.” he stated this firmly, holding the pad out for the others to see. “I will provide them with a copy of the Autobot Code.”

It didn't elicit the excited reaction he had been hoping for. Rather, the other 'Bots looked somewhat unsure.

“Well... Not that it's a _bad_ idea,” Bumblebee shrugged his shoulder plating. “But I don't know if just a document will be enough to show them anything definite.”

Bulkhead nodded. “Yeah. What's that Earth saying? 'Actions speak louder than words.'”

“I disagree.” Ultra Magnus replied, giving the datapad a small shake to indicate it. “Documentation can be a powerful tool in the right servos, and I believe AA-00 knows that as well. This should serve as adequate proof that we Autobots abide by a certain standard of ethics.”

After waiting a moment for a reply and receiving none, Magnus continued. “Seeing as there are no other suggestions, and if there are no further objections to mine, I will proceed with delivering the Code to AA-00 immediately.”

There was a bit of unconvinced murmuring, but no one spoke up to object.

“Very well. This unofficial meeting is adjourned.”

Ultra Magnus didn't wait around for the others to leave. He quickly headed out the door and towards his office to make a new copy of the Autobot Code. He barely made it halfway down the hall when he was stopped by a voice from behind.

“Magnus!”

Glancing back around, the enforcer realized Smokescreen had followed him down the hall. He stopped and turned about to face him.

“Is there something you wish to share, soldier?” He began wondering what sort of objection Smokescreen might have and why he hadn't shared it when asked in front of the others. Those fears were quelled once he spoke up again, though.

“I want to come with you.” he said. “I mean, to go talk with AA-00... I figure you could use a little backup, right?”

Ultra Magnus visibly hesitated in replying, and only managed to stammer out, “You... I-I'm not... sure if...”

“No wait hear me out!” Smokescreen held up a single digit to interrupt. “We'd make a great team on this. See, you're good with the rules, and I'm good with uh... y'know... talking. Social stuff.” he shrugged, looking just a little embarrassed. “Not to be rude but, well you could use some help in that area, is all and I figured-”

Magnus lifted a servo to stop him. “I understand.” he said flatly. Though he was clearly not thrilled about it, he nodded his assent and turned to continue down the hall. “Come along.”

“Great!” Smokescreen excitedly hopped into stride alongside his commander. “So, uh... are we gonna head straight over to Zero? Where are they this time of day, anyways?”

“We will have to visit my office to make a new copy of the Code first.” Magnus replied, then glanced down at the datapad still in his servo. “As for AA-00... the schedule has their next appointment with a construction team in sector V.”

Smokescreen only spouted a slew of excited words like _cool!_ and _great_! at this and then fell silent. Ultra Magnus glanced down at the 'Bot as they continued down the hall. While he hadn't necessarily appreciated _why_ Smokescreen had thought he should help, he had to admit there might be some merit to having him along. Of all the other Autobots, he appeared to be the only one to express some understanding of the Vehicons' perspective. It had taken a stern talking to from not one but _two_ Vehicons to get some semblance of that through his own processor. Clearly Smokescreen had a deeper sense of empathy for the 'Cons than he did. And considering the poor way in which Magnus' last encounter with AA-00 had ended, he might very well need someone with the empathy of Smokescreen to be there to do the talking.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very long and it gets inteeense :U I mean the whole story has just been dialogue so it's about time there was some action, right? Well, enjoy~
> 
> Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated!

“Wha- Why are they...? Th-that can't be safe! They shouldn't be up there. It's not just me, right? That's totally crazy.”

Ultra Magnus didn't want to speak against the Vehicons' credit, they had already proven themselves highly skilled laborers, but in his mind he had to agree with Smokescreen's statement. The two Autobots were standing at the end of a city block and looking out on the Vehicons' new construction site: a toppled tower leaning precariously on the structure across the road from it. Numerous Vehicons could be seen walking around, under, and a handful were even _on_ the structure.

As he considered how dangerous the task of clearing the wreckage would be, he looked out at the workers on the street as they performed their duties despite the mass of rubble looming far above their helms. Obviously he had no way of determining the stability of the structure just from looks alone, but if AA-00 thought _this_ task wassafe enough for their Vehicons to undertake, what did that say about their unwillingness to work with the Autobots?

Pushing that out of his processor, Magnus glanced down at Smokescreen. “AA-00 must have a reason for pushing forward with this project... whatever that may be.” he said, then he looked back to the Vehicons up ahead. “We should stay focused on _our_ task for now. AA-00 was scheduled to be here half a sub-cycle ago. They are , erm . . . _likely_ to be here by now."

“I don't see any silver 'Cons around.” Smokescreen narrowed his optics, trying to get a closer look at some of the Vehicons higher up on the buildings. “We could try asking, I guess.”

Ultra Magnus nodded his agreement and started towards the closest group of Vehicons. They were across the street from them and appeared to be working on building some sort of stabilizing structure. As they drew closer, the Vehicons stopped their work and looked up at the approaching Autobots, clearly lookingconcerned. Magnus stopped at what he thought was a reasonable distance. Smokescreen, however, took a few steps even closer and lifted a servo in greeting.

“Hey guys!” he said, his vocalizer sounded cheerful, and even though Magnus knew it was sincere, he couldn't help but doubt that the Vehicons would think the same. Smokescreen continued, “Sorry to bug you at work, but we were-”

“This is a construction zone.” One of the Vehicons interrupted him rather forcefully, crossing her arms in front of her chassis. “You're not allowed to be here.”

“Yeah, I know, but just listen. See, we're looking for AA-00. They're around here somewhere, so if you could point us in the right direction we'll be on our way.”

The other four Vehicons all looked to the one who had spoken before. She looked visibly uncomfortable as she stared down Smokescreen. “W-we can't... I mean they're-” She shot a quick glance back at her team, then turned back to Smokescreen and repeated louder, “You're not allowed to _be_ here!!”

Seeing Smokescreen wasn't getting anywhere, Ultra Magnus took a step forward and opened his mouth to speak. He stopped short though, because the instant he moved, all of the Vehicons visibly flinched away and the one he intended to address leapt backwards, slamming her back against the metal framing her team was working on.

“Whoa... Guess I didn't realize how bad it was...” Smokescreen mumbled, glancing back at the enforcer.

Magnus ignored him and raised a servo, slowly, palms open, and tried to look as calm as possible. “Please, we _must_ speak to AA-00. It's very important.” he paused a moment, then added quickly, “We have no intention of harming them. Or you.”

His assurance really didn't seem to help, in fact one of the Vehicons audibly whimpered and shrank down a bit, as if he were trying to hide behind the metal beams between them.

Smokescreen elbowed Magnus in the arm, “Hey, maybe leave out the talk about _harming_ them, Mags.” he whispered.

“Don't call me-” Ultra Magnus cut himself off as the roar of an engine met his audials. Both the Autobots turned to look up the street just in time to see a trio of silver jets fly into view over the skyline. They were headed towards the construction site, but after they flew overhead, the lead jet made a sharp loop and quickly headed back towards the two Autobots. The other two jets followed suit.

"Oh, look. I guess we found 'em." Smokescreen shrugged and looked up at Ultra Magnus, "I'll do the talking, ok? At least at first."

Magnus glanced over at the nearby Vehicons, some of whom were visibly trembling as they stared on at him. "...Understood."

A moment later the three jets reached them. The two followers landed over by the Vehicon workers and immediately started rounding them up and backing them away, all the while keeping their optics on the Autobots. The first jet, however, transformed in midair and landed right in front of the 'Bots and precisely between them and the other Vehicons. Though it was sometimes difficult for Magnus to tell Vehicons of the same frame-type apart, and all three of the Eradicons were silver framed jets, in this case it was rather obvious which of them was AA-00.

"What do you think you're doing here?!" AA-00 was glaring up at Ultra Magnus. "If you think I'm going to stand by and let you harass my workers without any consequence-"

"Whoa whoa, hang on!" Smokescreen stepped closer to AA-00 to get their attention. "We weren't causing any trouble; we were just asking if they'd seen _you_ , actually."

AA-00 shifted their glare over to Smokescreen. "Oh I see. So when I don't cave in to your threats the first time you bring your soldiers to back you up." They looked back to Magnus, "Not your best choice. Am I supposed to be intimidated by this _sparkling_?"

"Hey! I'm not a sparkling!!" Smokescreen sounded genuinely offended. He crossed his arms in a huff as he continued. "In fact, I'll have you know, I graduated from the Autobot Elite Guard Academy! I'm tough as nails."

AA-00's wings were twitching irritably as they glanced back and forth between the two Autobots. "Surprisingly, your degree in 'how-to-most-efficiently-slaughter-Decepticons' isn't making me feel any better, because I _still_ don't want you or your kind around my Vehicons, and that includes their work areas!"

"LookAA-00, I'm not here to scare you or anything. We just wanted to try talking, see if we can't change your mind about us."

"You're hardly going to change my mind by trespassing in a restricted construction zone and scaring my workers out of their plating!" AA-00 gave a short nod back to the two Eradicons and they began directing the workers away from their post. Slowly but surely, they were shuffled away towards the other teams closer to the construction site.

"Hey, you don't have to-"

"Smokescreen," Ultra Magnus cut him off, "perhaps we should get to the point."

"Ah! Right!" After a short nod up to the enforcer, he looked to AA-00, wearing the biggest, most genuine smile he could muster. "Well basically, we figured your problem with us Autobots is that you don't trust us." Smokescreen shrugged his shoulder plating, "I mean, we can't really blame you for that, it's been a long war, after all. We've all seen some pretty rough times-"

"Make your point already!" AA-00 interrupted, "I don't have time to stand around listening to you say obvious things all cycle."

Magnus noticed Smokescreen's plating ruffle a bit in frustration, but he continued calmly, "The point is, that's behind us now! If we keep thinking of each other the way we did during the war then it'll never end."

He paused a moment in case AA-00 wanted to respond, but they only continued to glare at the soldier, so he continued.

"Look, it's not gonna be easy. Obviously it's not... But we had-" Smokescreen glanced up at Ultra Magnus, "actually _Magnus_ had the idea of giving you this."

Taking that as his cue, Ultra Magnus reached into his subspace and produced the datapad. Smokescreen reached over and took it, then held it out for AA-00.

"This has the Autobot Code loaded onto it." He explained, "It's the creed we live by, the rules we follow... that sort of thing. Hopefully it'll help you understand us and how we operate a little better."

AA-00 stared down at the offered datapad for just a few seconds, then looked up, meeting Smokescreen's optics. They didn't say anything for a long moment, but then, after a deep vent, they finally spoke.

"Do you really think _that's_ the problem here? That I don't understand you?" Their vocalizer was trembling with anger. "Well you're wrong. I know exactly how you Autobots operate!"

Smokescreen opened his mouth to protest, but the Vehicon continued, speaking over him. "I've heard the way you talk to each other; I know how you think of yourselves. Whenever you accomplish something, no matter how disgusting the means you used to do it, you pat yourselves on the back because if _you_ did it, it _must_ be okay since you're the fragging _Autobots_!"

Seeing AA-00 was not going to take him up on his offer, Smokescreen made to lower his servo. Just as he started to, AA-00 reached out, seizing his wrist and squeezing tight!

"What does it say in your precious code about how you imprisoned my Vehicons in their own ship?! Does it mention all those scare tactics you used trying to convert them to your side?" They were shouting now and the workers by the construction area were starting to look over.

"What?! What scare tactics?" Smokescreen's smile was long gone by now. "We never hurt any of them!"

"No, you just chained them up and left them isolated for cycles without a word! How many times did you check on them? Or bring them fuel?" Smokescreen opened his mouth to object, but AA-00 wasn't done yet, "And what if I hadn't been there to take control? All those 'Cons who wouldn't help you- does it say in there what to do with prisoners who refuse to be your _slaves_?!"

"They weren't- I mean... It... It's not a step-by-step instruction book..." Smokescreen didn't know what else to say. His optics shot up to Ultra Magnus for help, but AA-00 kept going.

"Oh even better! So you all get this vague set of values along with your badge so you can kill as many 'Cons as you want and still feel all heroic about it; nevermind who they were or if they deserved it!"

This had gotten way out of hand, Magnus needed to interject.

"AA-00, that's enough."

"Yeah, you don't have to take the thing if you don't want." Smokescreen grabbed the the servo holding his wrist with his free servo and tried to pry himself loose. "Would you let go? You're hurting me."

"Don't complain to me about pain, tenderfoot, you don't even _know_ what pain is!!"

That was the last straw. Without pausing to properly weigh the situation, Ultra Magnus instinctively lunged forward, grabbed AA-00 by their upper arm and tore them away from Smokescreen!

The Vehicon didn't resist him at all, but the flare in their visor and the drooping angle of their wings seemed to imply they hadn't expected such a violent reaction. While their optics were on him, Magnus thought it a good time to make himself perfectly clear as to why this had happened.

Keeping his grip firmly on them, he spoke as calmly as he could. "You will _not_ threaten my Autobots."

AA-00 only stared up at him silently in response. Their expression was impossible to read behind the mask, but Magnus could only assume they were not happy.

"HEY!! Get your servos off Zero!"

Ultra Magnus turned his helm and saw the two other silver jets were rushing towards them, blasters at the ready! That was the moment he realized just how hard he was squeezing AA-00's arm.

"Oh frag!" Smokescreen glanced nervously from Magnus to the approaching Vehicons, and then made the unfortunate decision to drop the datapad and transform out his own blaster as well. Pointing it at them he shouted, "Back off! Everything's fine!"

The two jets stopped at the sight of his gun, but kept their own raised as well. Magnus could hear the high whine of the cannons charging up.

"The Pit it is!" One of them shouted, "Let them go _or else!!_ "

"NO!" It was AA-00 shouting this time. "No, put your weapons away! That's an order!!" Reaching up with their other servo they grasped at Magnus'. "Let go. For Primus' sake _let go_ you idiot!" This was said in a quiet hiss as they glared up at the enforcer.

Ultra Magnus stared down at the struggling Vehicon for a moment longer before he finally released them. He was practically in shock wondering how he had allowed what was meant to be a peaceful discussion devolve into, well... _this_. They were going to start fighting again! Another millennium of war ahead of their species, all because Magnus couldn't keep his servos to himself.

Now that he was in the middle of it, though, he had to do something to prevent that. Backing away from AA-00, he quickly rounded on Smokescreen. "Put that thing away, soldier! You are not helping."

Smokescreen's optics darted up to Magnus for a split second, then back to the Vehicons. "Are you serious, Mags?" He said, "Not while they're aimin' at me. Besides, _they_ started it!"

"Regardless, you are going to end it." Magnus stepped closer, "Disable your weapon. Now!"

"Look! I'm fine, it was nothing!" AA-00 was approaching their jets, one servo reaching out, gesturing for then to lower their blasters, the other holding his arm where Magnus grabbed him. "The last thing we need is for this to escalate, trust me; just put those down!"

Both the Vehicons were anxiously glancing back and forth between the two Autobots and their leader, but their blasters stayed up.

"What was all that yelling before?" One of them demanded. There was concern in their vocalizer. "What were they doing to you?!"

"That doesn't matter! Just do as I say, damn it!" AA-00 was obviously getting frustrated that their orders were being ignored. Looking back to Smokescreen, Magnus thought he could relate.

"Remember that conflict we were worried about at our meeting?" He said quietly, "Well this is it if you don't put that away."

Smokescreen opened his mouth to respond, but before he got a chance, a loud rumbling cut him off. All optics flew up to the destroyed tower and they noticed a cloud of dust near the top. There must have been an accident with one of the crews working on it. Whatever had happened, it had caused quite a disturbance up there. Everyone continued to stare uneasily at the debris for another minute. Then, just as the dust seemed to be settling, there was a shriek of grinding metal and the whole structure shifted downwards!

"IT'S COMING DOWN!" AA-00 rushed forward, shoving the two jets towards it. "Get them out! Help the grounders, GO _NOW!!!_ "

There was no hesitation in following this order: the Eradicons transformed and took off without another word. As they did, AA-00 raised their servo to the comm on their helm. When they spoke this time, their vocalizer was much calmer than it had been a moment ago.

"Evacuate the construction zone immediately! Do not take any tools or materials, just organize your teams and get out as quickly as you can."

After they made this announcement, the figures in the distance started to scramble. The Eradicons AA-00 had sent to help were flying up near the top of the tower, and appeared to be grabbing Vehicons and dropping them off to safety.

Ultra Magnus looked down to Smokescreen. He had lowered his gun at last and was staring uneasily at the jets as they went about rescuing the workers.

“I told you they shouldn't've been up there...” he mumbled, looking up at Ultra Magnus.

“Keep that to yourself.” Magnus replied. Then he stepped up behind AA-00. The Eradicon was on their comm, and it sounded like they were calling for more assistance. Once they had taken their digit off their comm link, Ultra Magnus spoke up, "What can we do to help?"

AA-00 shot a fierce glare back at the Autobot. "You canstay out of the way!"

Just after they spoke, a loud crash signaled that large chunks of sheet metal and cross beams were falling from the tower onto the workers below!

"Frag!" AA-00 transformed and took off as well, heading for where the debris was falling.

Magnus stood back and watched them go for a moment. Smokescreen approached him, his optics also fixed on the jet flying right into the wreckage.

"So... What should we do?" He finally asked, looking to Ultra Magnus.

"We do what Autobots always do," he replied, "we help those in need!"

Smokescreen nodded his agreement and both 'Bots transformed, racing forward to help.

They had to swerve around a number of fleeing Vehicons, but they quickly reached the center of the trouble. A large piece of the falling debris had trapped one of the teams behind it. Yet another few Vehicons were pinned by the rubble itself. AA-00 was among those sticking around to try and help them.

"Smokescreen-"

"I'm on it!" The soldier didn't need any further instruction from Magnus, he raced on ahead and transformed to root mode so he could help move the scrap.The other rescuers gave him a side-ways glance for a moment, but when he started digging out one of the trapped workers, they let him be and continued with their own efforts.

Ultra Magnus got there a few seconds later and quickly joined in. He noticed AA-00 glaring at him, but he kept his attention on the Vehicon that Smokescreen was trying to save. After shifting a few more bits if rubble out of the way, Magnus lifted one last beam and held it aloft while Smokescreen pulled the worker out from under it.

"His legs are crushed." He said, looking down at the Vehicon's battered frame. "Someone's going to have to help him out of here."

"I got this!" One of the other rescuers hurried over, transforming to her vehicle mode. "Load 'im up. I'll get him to safety."

The Autobots lifted the Vehicon together and laid him across his teammate, also helping him find a way to hang on so be wouldn't go flying off her.

"You ready?" She asked.

"Yeah. Thanks." The injured worker nodded to his friend, then he looked up at the Autobots. " ...th-thanks."

With that, the Vehicon sped off. Ultra Magnus and Smokescreen didn't watch them go, they turned right back around and went to help the remaining Vehicons. After a few more tense minutes, all the ones trapped under the rubble had been rescued. Now they just had to free the group still trapped behind it.

Ultra Magnus stepped back to assess the situation for a moment. The pile of twisted metal between them and the workers was tall and thick, but they could still see the Vehicons through small gaps in the scrap, and they were alive, so they would just have to find a way through to them. They had to be careful, though. If this debris was unstable it might collapse and crush them all!

He glanced over at AA-00. They were also searching around the scrap, looking for any sort of weak point to get through. Finally, they moved forward placing their servos on a metal beam leaning nearly horizontally across the pile.

"Here!" They shouted to the others, "Help me lift this!"

The remaining Vehicons hurried over to assist, but even through their combined strength they were only able to budge it. They obviously weren't going to be able to do it themselves, so rather than wait for AA-00 to ask for it, which was unlikely to happen, Magnus stepped forward to help. He pushed his way over to the Vehicon leader, grabbed ahold of the beam, and heaved it upwards and right over the heads of the Vehicons.

“I will hold this up. The rest of you get in there and help them out of there.”

For half a second the Vehicons just stared up at him in awe, but AA-00 was quick to pull them back to their senses. "Don't just stand there like idiots! Do as he says!"

As the Vehicons scrambled to follow their order, Ultra Magnus looked over at AA-00. They met his gaze and for the brief moment their optics met, Magnus realized the look the Eradicon was giving him might not be one of contempt or suspicion. That was a first.

Soon enough the first Vehicon was pulled out of the rubble. The progress was good, but it was still slow going. As Smokescreen and the Vehicons worked to pull the second one out, another shriek of grinding metal and a loud crash came from above. A voice in the distance shouted a warning, but there was nothing any if them could do as another shower of debris came down on the group of rescuers!

Athick piece of sheet metal landed precisely on the pile already trapping the workers. Ultra Magnus groaned, staining under the extra weight, but he refused to drop the cross beam. If he let go, the Vehicon who was halfway out would be crushed! Not to mention the one halfway into the scrap trying to pull him out too.

As smaller scraps of metal continued to rain down on them, AA-00 leapt forward and pulled the Vehicon reaching into the pile of rubble away from the opening. Though he was struggling to focus on keeping the thing from collapsing, he heard AA-00 order rest of the Vehicons to retreat to safety.

Most of them didn't have to be told twice and took off, but two of them stayed behind. Not wanting to waste time arguing with them, AA-00 whirled back around and dove into the opening themself! Seeing they didn't have a lot if time left, the remaining four workers managed to squeeze out relatively fast, and the two remaining Vehicons and Smokescreen were there to help them along once they made it out.

As AA-00 helped the last one into the open, the sound of groaning metal came from the pile. A few pieces of mangled scrap visibly shifted near the top.

"It's gonna collapse!" Smokescreen turned to Ultra Magnus. "We've gotta go, Mags! Put that scrap down and let's book it outta here!"

He thought to correct the soldier on his use of that annoying nickname, but he was concentrating on finding a way to drop the cross beam without further destabilizing the rest of the pile. His gaze happened over to AA-00 which made him notice that, while they were also helping that last rescued Vehicon back onto their feet, their optics were scanning the rubble. They must have been thinking the same thing.

They appeared about to say something to the enforcer, but their first syllable was cut off when the mass of twisted metal above them shifted again, sending a precariously placed beam sliding straight down towards them!

The whole thing happened so fast, Magnus could just barely register it. AA-00 grabbed ahold of the Vehicon sitting next to them and literally flung the 'Con out of harm's way! Unfortunately, this left them no time to shield themself, and the falling metal struck them right across their helm! AA-00 went crashing to the ground, their mask flying off, spattering energon across the road as it tumbled away.

It wasn't over with, though. The one piece falling appeared to trigger a whole avalanche of mangled debris and it was headed right for the downed Eradicon! Forgetting about letting it go carefully, Ultra Magnus dropped the beam in his servos and rushed over just in time to intercept a large and rather heavy chunk of metal from crushing AA-00!

The rest of the falling scrap quickly started piling on top of the piece he was holding up, and Magnus felt himself straining under the weight. He took a moment to glance down at AA-00. They were looking right back up at him, only this time their visor was gone and for once, he could see the 'Con's actual expression. Energon was dripping down their face from the blow to the helm, but even so, their mouth was agape and their optics wide with shock as they stared up at Magnus. He had never seen AA-00 afraid before, but he was certain he saw some fear in their optics.

There wasn't any time to reassure the 'Con; he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to hold up the collapsing pile! He managed to grumble out one last order, "Smokescreen! Get AA-00 out of here!"

The soldier hurried over and did as he was told. There were a few protestations made, almost certainly about not wanting to leave the enforcer behind, but Ultra Magnus couldn't be bothered with listening too carefully. He had to remain focused on not letting this damned scrap metal crush them all!

Finally, Smokescreen and AA-00 were both in the clear. Just in time too, because a few moments later, the burden on Magnus' shoulders suddenly doubled as more rubble came falling down from above! The force of the sudden added weight pushed the enforcer down to his knees.

"MAGNUS!!"He looked up and saw Smokescreen running back towards him.

If he got under there trying to help, they would both be crushed when this pile inevitably came down. The soldier's intentions were obviously good in coming back, but Magnus wasn't going to let that happen to him.

Pulling in what he realized could be his final ventilation, he fell. And the whole thing came crashing down on him.

 


	6. Chapter 6

When Ultra Magnus awoke, it was not a pleasant experience.

His whole frame ached, and when he tried to shift around, pain overwhelmed his sensor net forcing him to lie still. Strangely enough, he welcomed the discomfort. At least it meant his spark was still burning. That was also somewhat of a surprise to him. The last thing he remembered was an enormous heap of rubble falling down on him and crushing his entire frame. He couldn't imagine how he was able to survive that, or even the extent of the damage it must have done to him.

Magnus lifted one arm to try and feel how bad it was, but a sharp pain shot through his chassis as he ran his servo over it making him flinch. And flinching just caused another wave of pain to roll through his systems.

“All that squirming will just make it worse.”

Opening his optics at last, Ultra Magnus saw he was in the medical bay. He had already assumed that to be the case, but it was good to have it confirmed. From where he was lying on a berth, he could see the Vehicon medics on the other side of the medbay as they patched up some of the workers from the accident. Their injuries were not very severe, so he could only assume they'd been saved for last. He must have been out for awhile.

Looking back around to where the voice had come from, he noticed AA-00 sitting on the other side of his berth next to a monitor which was displaying his own vital signs. There was a welded patch on one side of their helm, and their face was buried in a datapad, as usual. The only strange thing was that their mask was missing, so Magnus could see their actual face. They didn't have any further comments, and their only movement was from their optics scanning the pad while they read.

“How...?” Magnus started to speak, but his vocalizer was marred with static. He cleared his vents quietly and tried again. “How did I get here?”

“I couldn't give you the specifics, unfortunately. I went offline after... you know.” AA-00 gestured to the welding on their helm, still not taking their optics off the datapad. “But I'm told some of the Tank Vehicons I commed for help came and dug you out. There may have been some Autobots there too. Smokescreen would've called them in I suppose.”

Magnus hesitated, not sure if he actually wanted to hear the answer to his next question, but it was important to know. “Were there... any fatalities?”

AA-00's optics stopped scanning over the datapad and for just for a moment they almost looked surprised by the question. However, the pause was brief, and they quickly resumed reading again. It was another few seconds before they finally replied, “No. Everyone made it out.”

After this declaration, their whole frame seemed more relaxed than it had a moment ago. Ultra Magnus understood why, of course. The knowledge was quite a relief. He didn't offer any response, though. He still wasn't sure if AA-00 would even believe him if he expressed that he was relieved.

When Ultra Magnus just continued to stare at AA-00, they finally turned and met his gaze. “Any other questions?”

As a matter of fact, he did have one more question, something he'd thought the moment he'd spotted the Vehicon sitting next to him. “Why are you here?”

“I was under the impression the medbay is where you go when you're injured.” AA-00's wings gave a short, dismissive flutter, and they quickly looked back down to their datapad.

“Why are you here _with me_?” Magnus clarified.

AA-00 let out a quiet vent and lowered their datapad. “If you must know, somehow Knockout got word that he's not... uh, not _technically_ in charge of the medical Vehicons.” they shrugged their shoulder plating, looking out on the medbay. “It was probably WY-03. She's always been a chatterbox... Anyway, he's been taking it out on me while I'm here. Which would be fine... I'd rather he be angry with me than my Vehicons, but then he took my mask and all my datapads just to spite me! Said it wasn't good for my 'condition' to stress myself with work. What a load of scrap!”

Ultra Magnus felt a small pang of guilt, recounting his role in Knockout making that discovery. It was probably better for Autobot/Decepticon relations if AA-00 didn't know the entirety of that story.

However, their explanation hadn't actually answered his question. Then he realized something else and his optics turned down to the datapad still in AA-00's servos. If Knockout had taken all the pads with their work, then what were they reading now? The Vehicon noticed his gaze and turned the pad so he could see the file pulled up on it. He only had to read the first few lines and it all clicked into place.

AA-00 was reading the Autobot Code.

“Smokescreen left it for you.” they explained, looking down at the datapad. "And I just have to say,” their optics glanced over at Magnus, and surprisingly, they looked somewhat amused. “I can see why it took you idiots so long to win the war.”

Of all the reactions he had expected or hoped for, that certainly wasn't one of them. Magnus held himself back from saying anything, although a number of things came to mind. It must have been apparent on his face how offended he was, because AA-00 took one look at him and smiled. It was actually more of a sneer than a smile, but it was still the kindest expression Magnus had ever seen from the Vehicon leader.

“It's been almost a whole cycle and I'm only a quarter of the way done with this thing... I know you Autobots think you're on the side of justice or some scrap, but do you really follow _all_ these rules? How do you get anything done?”

“We did not create the Code so we could feel superior about our morals,” There was just a hint of annoyance in his tone, but Ultra Magnus tried to keep himself calm. AA-00 seemed to finally be opening up, and he wasn't going to ruin it by snapping at them about disrespecting Autobot protocol. “we created the Code in order to prevent our forces from doing more harm than was necessary. But it is a way of protecting ourselves as well. We use it as a guide because we did not want the violence to change us, to turn us into something we are not.”

AA-00 turned the datapad over in their servos. “Hmm.. too bad the Decepticons didn't have something like that.” they mumbled. “I could barely recognize my officers by the end." They paused to stare down at the pad, their expression hardening again. "..It did change you though, didn't it? After everything that happened, I can't imagine a list of regulations could stop it."

It was no use lying; there was only one correct way to answer, anyway. "You're right, it didn't." Magnus admitted, "...However, it did give us a frame of reference. And now that it is all over, we can see where we came from and try to get back to that place."

"What makes you think you _can_ go back?"

"It won't be easy to let go of the habits we picked up during the war; I think Smokescreen and your Eradicons made that quite clear today. But we must at least try... For the sake of our species' future," Magnus let out a quiet vent, his optics dimming just slightly. "and for the sake of us in the present as well."

AA-00 didn't respond immediately, they just continued looking down at the Code in their servos. They weren't reading anymore, just staring down at the words. The silence stretched for a few minutes, the only sound in the medbay being the shuffling and quiet murmurs of the Vehicons working. At last, AA-00 shifted in their seat, turning to face Magnus fully, and placed the datapad down on the monitor next to his berth.

"I don't really need to read the rest." They said, "I think I got the gist of it..."

Ultra Magnus watched them stand and turn to leave his berthside. It didn't feel right to let it end like that. Even though he was injured and practically immobile on a medical berth, he had to try again, just one more time.

"AA-00," He paused to allow them to turn back and meet his gaze. "Is there nothing I can say that might convince you to let your Vehicons work with the Autobots?"

AA-00 just stared down at him, not looking annoyed like they had every other time he had brought this topic up, but not exactly looking pleased either.

"Ultra Magnus... I've lost so many Vehicons during this war. The thought of losing even one of them _now_ , when they're supposed to be _safe_ , I just..." Their servos clenched tightly into fists and they turned their optics away.

Magnus took their pause as an opportunity to speak up. "The Autobots are not perfect. I can't guarantee there won't be any mistakes made as we learn, but I can promise you that no Autobot would intentionally harm anyone under their command. That's simply not how we operate, it goes against not just our Code, but everything we stand for."

A half-smile barely crossed AA-00's face as they glanced over at the datapad once more. "Slag. We 'Cons _really_ could've used one of these codes, then..." They continued to stare at the pad for just a moment longer. Then suddenly , their posture stiffened and their wings perked up a bit as they turned back to Ultra Magnus. "I suppose a trial period could be arranged with your Autobots and some small teams. I 'll have to be monitoring closely while this is takes place, but... I think you've shown you _can_ actually care about us Vehicons when it really matters."

Magnus stared up at them with wide optics, almost not believing what his audio receptors were picking up. They had agreed. Finally! This would be a huge step forward for all of them, and one step closer to a peaceful future for their species. A flood of things to say went through Magnus' processor; there was so much to think about, so many things to do still. But rather than push his luck, he merely said quietly, "Thank you."

AA-00's optics glanced away for a moment and when they spoke it was an almost inaudible mumble. “Yeah, and, uh... Thank you too.” Quickly meeting his gaze again, they continued much louder, "I still reserve the right to pull the plug on any of you if I think you're not treating your teams well!"

Magnus made an effort to nod slightly, "Of course."

AA-00 stepped up to the monitor next to Magnus again and picked up the datapad with the Code. They weren't focused on the pad, though, they had their optics on the monitor itself.

"Speaking of pulling the plug-"

In one swift movement, AA-00 snatched up the connecting cables attached to Magnus' chassis and yanked them out! The monitor began buzzing, indicating it could no longer detect Magnus' spark. The medical Vehicons in the room all looked over at the noise, and just as Ultra Magnus was opening his mouth to ask why in the world AA-00 did that, the door on the far end of the med bay flew open and Knockout came rushing out.

Although he stopped when he saw AA-00 with the cable in their servo. There was a moment's hesitation where he just stared on looking surprised, but his expression quickly turned sour and he stormed over to the Vehicon leader.

“If you wanted my attention there are better ways to go about it.” he growled, snatching the cable from them. He flicked off the buzzing monitor and then went to work reattaching the cable to Ultra Magnus.

“You wouldn't respond to any of my earlier attempts to contact you, so I decided to stop playing games.” AA-00 folded their arms across their chassis angrily. “Are you going to return my datapads or not? I have a lot of work to get done, even more so now that I have to assign teams to the Autobots.”

Knockout paused in working with the cables and shot a fierce glare at the Eradicon. “You're assigning teams to the Autobots?” he repeated, “I don't believe this! The Autobots are getting teams, meanwhile I do the most important work around here and I only get Vehicons who technically don't even have to do what I tell them to!”

“Don't be ridiculous! Of course they do what you tell them to, they're here to assist you! Why does it matter if they're officially your underlings or not?”

Ultra Magnus started to tune out of the conversation a bit. He wasn't particularly interested in hearing them bicker over the hierarchy of the medical staff, so he started to think of ways he might be able to help AA-00 with giving the Autobots their assignments. The potential of this new cooperation was very exciting, and he found himself eager to let the other Autobots know. He was still resigned to a berth for the moment, unfortunately. He focused in again on the conversation, hoping for a place to get a word in about having the Autobots come by.

“-not to mention that there's only _four_ of them! Do you know how busy it was in here after that slagging accident?! I needed three of them to help me make sure this big lugnut didn't die on me, so there was only one of them free to help the others for nearly half the cycle.”

“Well there's supposed to be five of them, but-”

“Yes, there are. And what are you going to do about this last renegade Vehicon? _Hmm_?”

The two Decepticons were facing each other down, not even paying attention to Magnus. Knockout had even dropped the cables he was supposed to be reattaching in favor of glaring at the Vehicon leader. Ultra Magnus might have to wait for this argument to be over to ask anything of Knockout.

“Look, I can't be bothered to look after WY-05; that one's always been a wrench in my gears.” AA-00's wings gave that slight flutter they made when they were irritated. “If you want to find him so badly you can look for yourself. He probably never left his last assignment with the sparklings, but if you pull him away he'll probably-"

“Sparklings?!”

It fell silent in the med bay and Knockout and AA-00 stopped to look over at Magnus as if they had only just realized he was there. They stared at him quietly for a moment, all three of them reading different levels of shock.

Finally Knockout mumbled to AA-00, not taking his optics off Magnus. “You... didn't tell him?”

“Why would I tell him? Why didn't _you_ tell him?!” AA-00 was also speaking in hushed tones.

There was another moment of silence, then Knockout turned back to AA-00. “ _So_ , those datapads you wanted are in my desk, let me just get those for you!”

“Oh, good! I'll come with you!”

Before Ultra Magnus could protest, both Decepticons took off across the medbay and disappeared into Knockout's office. All he could do was watch them go, a whole new set of questions whirling around in his processor. He stared at the open doorway for awhile, but neither Decepticon came back out. Apparently they didn't want to answer these questions.

Giving up on waiting, he laid his helm back on the berth, wondering how in Primus' name the _Decepticons_ had managed to raise a sparkling. And AA-00 had said sparklings. Plural! He couldn't remember the last time he had seen even one.

Despite being a bit blindsided by this revelation, Ultra Magnus felt rather pleased. At the very least he had managed the first step in normalizing relations between the factions. They had started down a road towards lasting peace for their species. It was still a ways off, but it was important to get it started. Especially because, as it turned out, the future was a lot closer than they had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of _this_ story, but it's clearly not the end. Stick around for more Vehicons! :Y

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Zero Tolerance 2: Sub-Zero](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12121239) by [Dinobot_Slash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dinobot_Slash/pseuds/Dinobot_Slash)




End file.
